Positive economic data has helped the Dow post a mostly
positive performance so far this week. The fastest growth in new
home sales in five years and reassurances from Fed Chair Janet
Yellen were the positive cues on the domestic front. During the
first four trading days, the Dow has gained 0.4%.

Last Week's Performance

The Dow lost 0.2% on Friday after the Federal Reserve indicated
that it may not curtail the pace of tapering. Dismal existing
home sales data and futures and options expiration dragged the
markets down. Investors also had to focus on certain dismal
corporate earnings results.

For the week, the Dow declined 0.3%. This was primarily due to a
number of disappointing economic reports and fears of further Fed
tapering. Investors also had to contend with several dismal
earnings reports.

The Dow This Week

Merger and acquisition activities and a rally in health insurers
lifted the blue chip index to a 0.6% increase on Monday. A
buoyant German consumer confidence report also boosted investor
sentiment.

The Dow ended 0.2% lower on Tuesday following a decline in
consumer confidence and dismal US home prices data. However, the
retail sector gained on the back of better-than-expected earnings
reports.

An increase in new home sales helped the blue chip index gain
0.1% on Wednesday. Sales of new single-family houses increased
9.6%, the fastest pace in more than five years, despite harsh
winter weather.

Ultimately, the Dow gained 0.5% on Thursday following comments
from Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Yellen blamed the
harsh winter climate for the
recent weakness in the economy. She also
said the central bank may continue with the tapering process.

Components Which Moved the Index

The Home Depot Inc.
(
HD
) reported better-than-expected bottom-line results for the
fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. The company's earnings of 73 cents
per share exceeded the year-ago quarter's adjusted earnings of 67
cents as well as the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 71 cents.
Consequently, the stock led gains among the Dow components, with
its shares increasing nearly 4% on Tuesday.

The fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 was 14 weeks long. The company
stated that the fourteenth week contributed approximately 7 cents
to its earnings results. Excluding that, Home Depot's earnings on
a 13-week comparable basis increased 19.7% year over year in the
reported quarter.

Exxon Mobil Corp.
(
XOM
) on Feb 21 announced that it has replaced 103% of its 2013
production by adding proved oil and gas reserves totalling 1.6
billion oil-equivalent barrels, including a 153% replacement
ratio for crude oil and other liquids.

However, this did not have any impact on the bourses as the
integrated oil major has been replacing more than 100% of its
reserves regularly over the past two decades. As a result, the
share price which opened at $95.48 on Feb 21 dipped 0.5% to
finally settle at $95.03.

General Electric Co.
(
GE
) floated a new distributed power business, which involves
generating electricity from several small energy sources. The
company plans to invest $1.4 billion in this division over a
four-year time period.

The company aims to meet rising demand for "on-site power systems
that are easier to finance, faster to install and more efficient
and reliable." The idea behind distributed power is to "to
improve access to electricity in remote areas with poor or
non-existent electric grids."

3M Co.
(
MMM
) strengthened its healthcare analytics division by inking a
definitive agreement to acquire leading healthcare data analytics
and business intelligence provider, Treo Solutions, for an
undisclosed amount. However, the news failed to draw any reaction
from investors as share prices remained relatively flat at
$132.20 at the close of trading on Feb 24.

The Coca-Cola Co.
(
KO
) launched its first frozen Diet Coke product in the brand's
31-year existence. The company launched Diet Coke FROST Cherry as
a Slurpee only at 7-Eleven stores this week. When temperatures
rise as spring approaches, availability of this new drink will be
increased.

Performance of the Top 10 Dow Companies

The table given below shows the price movements of the ten
largest components of the Dow, which is a price weighted index,
over the last five days and during the last six months. Over this
period, the Dow has gained 1.05%.

Ticker

Last 5 Day's Performance

6 month performance

V

+1.31%

+29.15%

IBM

+1.36%

+1.71%

GS

+0.53%

+8.11%

MMM

-+2.11%

+18.88%

BA

+0.22%

+24.49%

CVX

+2.67%

-5.02%

UTX

+1.07%

+16.63%

XOM

+0.85%

+7.88%

MCD

-1.04%

-1.42%

CAT

-0.82%

+17.28%

Next Week's Outlook:

The most eagerly awaited report for the month, GDP data, is to
be released today. GDP numbers are expected to fall and their
direction will set the tone for this week as well as the next
month.

The next week features several key reports, including the ISM
manufacturing and services indexes, construction spending,
factory orders and employment data. These numbers will largely
chart out the course for the Dow.